Openness Should Be On Agenda For State's New Police Chief

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy didn't take the cookie-cutter approach in choosing a new commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to succeed Reuben F. Bradford.

This week Mr. Malloy introduced Dora B. Schriro, 63, who has no police experience and who will become the first woman ever to head Connecticut's state police. She has spent a career in prison administration and comes to Hartford from New York City, where she has been commissioner of corrections.

But that lack of police experience on her otherwise full resume really shouldn't matter. The agency — formerly known as the Department of Public Safety — has had non-police commissioners in the past.

Ms. Schriro, who the governor said was his only interviewee and his first choice for the post, just needs to be a good administrator and must remember who she serves — the public.

She must not succumb to the temptation to hide or delay releasing information, such as the report on the Sandy Hook shooting investigation, that rightfully belongs to the people. It's dangerous to keep people in the dark about truths that, although ugly, might save lives someday.

And she should not allow her department to advance hare-brained schemes such as charging citizens an exorbitant amount just to see public documents.

She should, in short, be as open as the head of a police agency can possibly be.

Ms. Schriro as commissioner must also press ahead with the cost-saving consolidation of dispatch centers, now underway, and other sensible reforms. Perhaps a study of whether the state police and some municipal police departments offer duplicative services is in order.

The new commissioner should also strive to repair the frayed relationship with the state police union. Discontent undermines the effectiveness of any workplace.